Among the people who question the validity of alkaline water, the biggest question is, What happens to the alkaline water once it reaches the stomach, which is highly acidic? People who have knowledge of the human body, including medical doctors, ask this question. Let me answer this question to erase any doubts about the health benefits of alkaline water.

In order to digest food and kill all kinds of bacteria and viruses that come with the food, the inside of our stomach produces acid. The stomach pH value is maintained at around 4. When we eat food and drink water, especially alkaline water, the pH value inside the stomach goes up. When this happens, there is a feedback mechanism in our stomach to detect this and commands the stomach wall to secrete hydrochloric acid into the stomach to bring the pH value back to 4. So the stomach becomes acidic again. When we drink alkaline water, more hydrochloric acid is secreted to maintain the stomach pH value. It seems like a losing battle, but it isn't!

When you understand how the stomach wall makes hydrochloric acid, your concerns disappear.  There is no hydrochloric acid pouch in your body. If there were, it would burn a hole in the body. The cells in our stomach wall must produce  hydrochloric acid on demand instantly on a as-needed basis. The ingredients in the stomach cells make hydrochloric acid (HCl)  They are carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl). NaCl + H2O + CO2 = HCl + NaHCO3, or KCl + H2O + CO2 = HCl + KHCO3

The byproduct of making hydrochloric acid is sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, which goes into the blood stream. These bicarbonates are the alkaline buffers that neutralize excess acids in the blood; they dissolve solid acidic wastes into liquid form. As they neutralize the solid acidic wastes, extra carbon dioxide is released, which is discharged through the lungs. As our body gets older these alkaline buffers get lower; this phenomenon is called acidosis. The body accumulates more acidic waste products. There is a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acid.

By looking at the pH value of the stomach alone, it seems that alkaline water never reaches the body. But when you look at the whole picture, there is a net gain of alkalinity when we drink alkaline water. Our body cells are slightly alkaline. In order for them to produce acid, they must also produce alkaline, and vice versa, just as a water ionizer cannot produce alkaline water without producing acid water.

When the stomach pH value gets higher than 4, the stomach knows what to do to lower it. However, if the pH value goes below 4, for any reason, the stomach doesn't know what to do. That's why one may  take Alka-Seltzer, which is alkaline, to relieve an acidic stomach and gas pain. In this case, insufficient hydrochloric acid is produced by the stomach wall, and therefore no alkaline buffer is being added to the blood stream. Most people do not understand this.

After the food in the stomach is digested, it must come out to the small intestine. The food at this point is so acidic that it will damage the intestine wall. In order to avoid this problem, the pancreas makes alkaline juice (known as pancreatic juice). This juice is sodium bicarbonate, and is mixed with the acidic food coming out of the stomach. From the above formulae, in order to produce bicarbonates, the pancreas must make hydrochloric acid, which goes into our blood stream.

Some persons experience sleepiness after a big meal, not during the meal or while the food is in the stomach, but when the digested food comes out of the stomach; that's the time when hydrochloric acid goes into our blood stream. Hydrochloric acid is the main ingredient in antihistamines that cause drowsiness. Alkaline or acid produced by the body must have an equal and opposite acid or alkaline produced by the body, but  with modern diets this doesn't happen and the body becomes too acidic.   This is where alkaline supplied from outside the body, like drinking alkaline water results in a net gain of alkalinity in our body.

When the body is too acid and can't get rid of the toxins a person will get chronic illness or in other cases gain weight.  Thus some persons can eat very little and still gain weight as their body is too acid and so stores the remaining toxins in the fat cells as it can't release them.  The fat cells act as a kind of protection for the body so the toxins don't cause more damage to other bodies cells.  These persons require more alkaline water than others to release the toxins so they will be able to loose excess fat/weght. They need an alkaline producing diet as well..  So some persons may eat very very  little and yet gain weight as their body is too acid.

Our bodies may spend more time producing waste products than processing and discharging or releasing them. Some persons because of  heredity are more prone to become acidic or toxic. As we get older we also become more acidic.

Most of the food we like is mainly acid causing. Acidic causing foods do not necessarily mean that they taste acidic, but that the waste they produce are acidic. Grains and meats are mainly acidic; fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Interestingly citric fruits may taste or seem acidic but are considered to be alkaline because they contain alkaline minerals and do not make the body acidic.

Then there is our environment.  Polluted air often contains 3% less oxygen than clean air.   More healthy cells are killed by polluted air, water and soil as well as the natural death of cells caused by normal metabolism. Thus more acid waste products are created and our body becomes more and more acidic.

The question is: What happens to the non-disposed of acidic waste products in our body?  These waste products become solid waste, such as fat, cholesterol, fatty acids, uric acid, kidney stones, urates, phosphates, sulfates, etc., and unknownly to us, they accumulate and build-up within our body. This accumulation of non-disposed of acid waste within our body are what makes us get ill and get old. Some of the results of an acidic body are chronic pain, high blood pressure, headaches, never feel well, fatigue and skin problems, plus many others.

Alkaline neutralizes acid. Drinking alkaline water promotes our body to dissolve acid wastes and makes it easier for the body to dispose of them safely. The accumulation of acid waste causes ill health,. but  the reduction of acid wastes will reverse this. Alkaline water is not a medicine to cure any disease. However, if consumed regularly, alkaline water gradually reduces the accumulated acid wastes and many illnesses go away. For example obese persons slowly get rid of the toxins causing the weight gain. As a result of acid reduction, there are many reports of natural health improvements in Japan. The over weight individual for example requires a great deal of alkaline mineral water between meals to get rid of toxic waste residue to reduce their fat.  They can drink up to 1 liter of alkaline water enriched with minerals for every 40 pounds of your weight each day.

We use alkaline soap to wash acidic dirt accumulated on our skin; we must wash the acidic dirt accumulated within our body too by using alkaline water which is enriched with minerals. Alkaline water has been available in Asia for over 30 years; special water ionizers that produce alkaline water have even been approved by the Japanese government as medical devices.
 

Ten drops for each litre of water.  Contains minerals with no taste.  Makes 130 litres. $35.95